1000’s of birders have submitted round 50,000 checklists from greater than 60 eBird hotspots alongside the C&O Canal, racking up a complete of 316 species.
The canal path begins at mile 0 close to the place Rock Creek empties into the Potomac River—and the place eBirders have noticed Yellow-crowned and Black-crowned Night time Herons stalking within the shadows of the 4 Seasons Lodge, Washington, D.C.
Inside the District of Columbia, the most well-liked C&O eBird website is Fletcher’s Cove (mile 3.1), with round 3,000 checklists submitted and 200 species noticed. Christopher Murray, former president of DC Hen Alliance, says habitat round Fletcher’s Cove contains “the deep waters of the Potomac River, the excessive bluffs that tower over the river on the Virginia facet, and riparian habitat.”
In spring the woodlands surrounding Fletcher’s Cove entice nice numbers of migrating warblers, vireos, tanagers, and orioles. In line with Murray, it’s top-of-the-line native spots to discover a breeding Prothonotary Warbler.
“I do know of nowhere else within the metropolis the place this chicken can so reliably be discovered,” Murray writes on the Mates of Fletcher’s Cove web site, recalling how seeing and listening to a Prothonotary is commonly the spotlight of the spring chicken walks he leads on the website.
Crossing into Maryland, Montgomery County boasts most of the C&O’s most-birded locales, together with Violette’s Lock (mile 22.1)—the positioning alongside the canal with essentially the most eBird guidelines submissions. The lock is a beloved birding spot for Kathy Calvert, an eBird reviewer for Maryland’s third Breeding Hen Atlas who has been birding the C&O Canal for round 4 a long time.
“I’ve had so many nice Maryland birds at Violette’s,” says Calvert, “It’s a reasonably huge river at that time and there are rapids and a few uncovered rocks, which make a great habitat for lots of various species.” She notes that her private eBird lists embody loads of relative rarities for the area, similar to Whimbrel, American Avocet, and Arctic Tern.
Calvert’s favourite C&O spot is 30 miles upriver at Lander Boat Ramp (mile 50.8), the place she says the foot and bike visitors will get a bit lighter. This April Calvert spent a morning sitting on the dock watching birds heading upriver alongside the Potomac and noticed two Bald Eagles, a kingfisher, three species of woodpeckers, and 16 species of songbirds, plus a pair of Frequent Loons zooming excessive above.
The C&O Canal path ends on the Cumberland Terminus (mile 184.5), one other well-birded part that has attracted native rarities lately similar to American Golden-Plover, White Ibis, and Ross’s Goose.
In line with native eBird Hotspot volunteer editor Michael Bowen, your entire 184 miles of the C&O Canal is a pure flyway for birds, and the perfect birding spots are a matter of private choice.
Within the guide A Birder’s Information to Montgomery County, Bowen wrote: “The C&O is a perennial favourite of birders, with each swearing that his or her chosen stretch is the perfect throughout migration.”
